Wading through the laundry

It's been a couple days now since our guests have made their way back to the big Island, and I'm pretty sure I've finally got all the laundry under control.
Here they are just before heading to the train to take them back to the airport...




Don't get me wrong, it was only the bedding from two beds, but with the "wonder machine", it can sometimes take a half a day just to do one load.
Now, I call it the "wonder machine" for a number of reasons. The first time I used it, I couldn't help but wonder what the hell that noise was that it was making, and then of course, I always wonder if it's stuck somewhere at some point and all the clothes are just sitting in there soaking wet, waiting for me to come along and....do something. (Usually involves having to find a point on the cycle where I can coax a spin out of the thing). But then, I usually wonder, "what the hell were they thinking when they installed this piece of cr*p!"
I can feel the vein in my forehead pulsating just now thinking of it.

Just let me take a couple deep breaths....

I try to tell myself I have all the time in the world, and to get uptight about these things is simply not healthy, but it's tough I wanna tell ya.
Pretty sure I have a genetic predisposition to get a little upset from time to time, (and I'm clenching my teeth even as I'm typing this) so trying to resist the temptation to take a five pound sledge hammer to the thing is just about all I can do.

*sigh*



Moving right along....

Sunday, was a wonderful day. Not just because there was no laundry either. It was a nice sunny day, a balmy +6°C and a perfect day to tool around town on the bikes. We now pretty much have our own fleet, consisting of five bikes. Seems we can't have any greater number of guests until we get more bikes...?

The destination of choice was Twickel which you're certainly welcome to read about if you choose to click on the link. It's an estate that's about a 10 minute bike ride from our front door.

Here's a glimpse of the main building...


There were quite a few people out walking or riding bikes.
It's a perfect place for biking, and the estate is large enough that you're almost into Hengelo when you get to the outskirts.
There are several houses on the property in addition to the castle itself. Most of which are unique in their design.

We then came back through Delden and stopped for some breakfast at The Swan, which is a pub at the corner of the main drag going into "downtown" Delden.
Here we're just about to go in, and Annie and Gabe are having a look at this one huge place that belongs to a big cheese in Grolsch


I completely missed the expression on Annie's face when she was told just how much they were asking to rent this place. The story goes that the Plant Manager of the Hengelo (Eaton) location was considering it briefly, until they told him it was €5,000 a month!

They didn't think that would work for them.

He and his family are living over in Borne....

Here's the view up Langestraat. Note the hustle and bustle of Delden.

Apparently one needn't be on an estate to have a cool looking house either, since this one is on the opposite corner from where we stopped.

Since Tuesday turned out to be pretty much another fabulous day, and I'm just a lonely guy in a lonely town*, I thought I'd check out a couple more of the bike routes around.
Gabe (*yes, she's in the UK) seems to think that one of these days she's going to ride her bike to work. So I figured I'd head in that direction, after consulting google maps, and just see what's up. Turns out it's about a half hour from our front door to the Ikea that you see there in the distance.

That would make it then about another 10 to 15 minutes to Eaton. We'll ride it together on a Sunday one of these days, and she can decide if she's ready.
If you look carefully at the picture, you'll see a bus (down at the foot of the IKEA sign)....which is on a dedicated bus lane that comes in directly from Hengelo. I'm standing on a triple overpass over the A1.
There's the road that I'm on, a separate one for the trains and a third one for bikes and that bus line. Since the third one involves buses, there's a separation for the bikes to make it a more comfortable experience for the bike riders.
Simply brilliant.

One of the sights along the way, since it is farm country after all...

Now, you may recall that a few entries ago, like back before Christmas methinks, I had a brief chat about doing something really retarded and then having it end up on the Internet.
So I figure, fair is fair, and the rules should apply equally. See....I did something really stoopid. When we were down in Bonn, I managed to drive through a construction site, and got some black cr*p splattered on the A6. My heart sank when I saw it, and you may recall that I ended up doing a little damage to the paint job as a result of actually believing the guy at the dealership. Why, oh why I fell for that I'll never know.
Anyway, I've since picked up some rubbing compound, and I'm very nearly to the point of completely eradicating my stupidity.
I seem to recall when we were at that big Cathedral down in Köln seeing some folks down on bended knee, and it occured to me as I was pecking and snorting on my hands and knees that I surely must have done something to anger the "car gods" and this was my way of doing pennance.I've just about got that side back to something close to perfect again, but my knees gave out.
I'll take another stab at it tomorrow, after I get back from my little road trip.
Hm...guess you'll just have to find out about that later....